Dark Days (30 Days of Night, Book 2)
by Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith

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Book Reviews of Dark Days (30 Days of Night, Book 2)

Book Review: The Word is Out...!
Summary: 4 Stars

Although DARK DAYS doesn't have the focus, tension or horror of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, it doesn't mean it isn't as good - in fact, I actually think it's better. In 30 DAYS Steve Niles had a premise and ran with it. The story was gripping and well paced and other than it being sad and scary, there wasn't much else to the book. But that's what made it good: the simplicity and the focus of it. DARK DAYS is more in-depth, it's subtler and has more of a narrative in that it's a complex story that develops through each chapter. Even though it isn't horrific, it has a chilly feel to it because we are nevertheless dealing with vampires. There is also tension, as even though we don't have the claustrophobic setting of Barrow, there is a different threat to the setting of Los Angeles, as one never knows when or from where a vampire may appear.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT hints at the humanism behind the vampires - that they're not all merely sadistic creatures that have a thirst for blood. DARK DAYS elaborates on this and the joy of this book is having a closer look at the vampires; each vampire has different motives, agendas and loyalties, and they don't all get along.

The artwork is again excellent and Ben Templesmith's moody, expressive, artwork complements the feel of Niles' writing and smoothly drives the story, punctuating dramatic moments with exciting illustrations that arrest the audience. He works well with the summer hues and capitalises on its incongruity, making it add to the eeriness. The climate also adds a lot to the realism, which is much of what this book is about: taking it slow and trying to make us suspend our disbelief, and to this purpose Los Angeles is a perfect setting.

Thats what makes the book so good, the fresh and realistic angle on vampires, giving the feeling that its realistic and suggesting that there could just be vampires out there. In the end, we're all familiar with the idea of hissing vampires, running about in the dark - but seeing them standing and smiling in the lazy haze of the Los Angeles summer... somehow that makes them seem rather more realistic.

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• Literature & Fiction > Horror